


when love's had his tears out

by siojo



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Heavy Angst, M/M, One-Sided Relationship, Sad Ending, at least that's what marco thinks, the saddest thing that i've written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-10-31 23:11:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10909404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siojo/pseuds/siojo
Summary: Ace doesn't want to sit here while Pops says goodbye, where he can't avoid how much they all must hate him for killing Pops. Which is how he had ended up in Marco's room, waiting for Pops to finish up his goodbyes.





	when love's had his tears out

Ace’s chest aches, the wound that killed him throbbing even in death, he leans against the door to Marco’s room, trying not to make a noise, even if no one could see him. He rests his chin on his knees and tilts his head, watching Marco.

There’s bottles of booze taking over Marco’s desk hiding the paperwork, not that it seems to doing what Marco wanted. Not when he’s sobbing into the table like he’s lost something that means the world to him.

Ace is sure that none of them will forgive him for killing Pops anytime soon. He killed Pops, it’s his fault and- Ace bites his lower lip, wondering how he could cry when he was _dead_. But he killed Pops. He murdered him because he decided to run off and take Teach down and failed. He killed Pops and he wouldn’t be surprised if the others curse him for it.

“Ace,” He jolts glancing at Marco, when had he looked away, the sound of his name broken and almost like Marco was _begging_ for something. “ _Ace_.”

“Marco?” Ace asks whisper soft, even though he knows he’s dead and no one can see him.

“You idiot,” Marco’s shoulders shake and Ace realizes that he’s looking at a picture. A picture that had been taken of them just before Thatch had died, been murdered and Ace hadn’t even been able to take revenge on his killer. “You, you stupid little fool.”

Ace wants to protest but Marco just keeps talking.

“You always, always talked about him,” Marco isn’t drunk, but his glass moves like he is, his shoulders shaking. “About your little brother. About how you love,” He makes a small noise that Ace can’t label. “Loved him. I should have, should have noticed Akainu sooner.”

“You couldn’t have-”

“But I was overconfident, you were free,” Marco sobs, tears dripping down his face. “You were free and I thought, I thought you would be, would be okay. That we wouldn’t, that I could. That.”

Ace still doesn’t understand what that noise means, but he steps closer, until he can see Marco better.

“I was,” Marco shifts, rubbing his eyes against his forearm. “I love you, Ace. I love you and you died before I could tell you and,” Oh, Ace knows what that sound means now. He broke Marco’s heart. “What am I supposed to do? You’re dead, you and Pops both and I, how am I supposed to do this? If I had been faster.”

Ace’s chest hurts, he doesn’t think it’s the wound this time, his hand still hovering useless in the space between himself and Marco, still just as dead as he had been previously. Still just as unable to comfort him as he had been when he had been sitting by the door instead.

“I,” Marco laughs bitter and touching the picture with reverent hands. “I had it planned out you know, the confession. Pops,” Marco’s shoulders shake and his jaw clenches. “Pops helped me, when he wasn’t laughing at me. He thought, he thought it would be simple. Just, to just tell you, but I, I wanted it to be special.”

Ace wants to leave, he should, he should walk away and go before he hears this because it hurts. It hurts so much and he, he can’t get his feet to _move_.

“You deserved something special. Something that,” Marco’s smile reminds Ace desperately of after Thatch, not fake but still so sad and broken. “Something memorable. I found this stupid island that was full of all you could eat places and there was a fireworks contest. I had it all planned.”

“Marco.”

Marco can’t hear him, not as he starts crying again, hand going almost too tight around the glass in his grasp, “Why did you have to go? Ace, why did you have to die? I should have, if I had just been faster.”

“Son,” Ace glances back at Pops. “You don’t have to stay.”

“Marco, Marco doesn’t hate me.”

Whitebeard smiles, “Marco loves you, he might hate what you have done and what happened and even himself, but he loves you more.”

“I broke him.”

“Death changes people. Marco has always been more sensitive about it than most, with his immortality.”

Ace follows Whitebeard out the room, pretending he can’t hear Marco crying about why couldn’t he be faster. Pretending that the heart that burned out of him doesn’t ache with every step.

_I love you too_ he wants to whisper before they leave, _thank you for loving me_.

He doesn’t and the words sit heavy on his tongue. He wonders if he will ever get to tell Marco them, or if he’ll wait forever for someone who can’t follow him. Ace isn’t sure which is worse.


End file.
